Social representations of the right to health on the trinational border

Abstract

This article describes a study based on a qualitative approach that aimed to analyze the social representations of opinion makers about the right and access to health in the cross-border territoriality of Foz do Iguaçu-Paraná. To achieve that goal, interviews were conducted with leaders of social movements, university professors, health workers and journalists. Moscovici’s Social Representations Theory was used with a focus on the three-dimensional analysis to process data. Findings show a diversity of representations of the right to health in the territory. They range from a notion of restricted citizenship that is exclusively granted to nationals to a broader concept of health and to the understanding of health as a universal right. Regarding access to health services as an expression of that right, contradictory movements were observed that limit cross-border access by building a conceptual barrier that marginalizes and excludes what is not national. We conclude that financing, provision of services by the local health system and international cooperation achieved regionally are aspects that need to be part of the local debate on health policy, planning and management and should make up a praxis that meets the multiple specificities of cross-border citizenship.